Gov. Roy Cooper slammed General Assembly Republicans Friday for the state’s ongoing class size “nightmare,” calling on lawmakers to take action next week to resolve the looming issues for North Carolina public schools.

“I believe smaller class size can be a good thing, but you have to pay for it,” Cooper said during a visit to a Charlotte elementary school. “This is an artificial class size change—one that shrinks classes on paper but in reality hurts students and teachers.”

Rep. Craig Horn, the powerful Union County Republican who co-chairs the House K-12 committee, told Policy Watch this week that, while he doesn’t expect a resolution when legislators return to session next week, he does believe lawmakers will find solutions long before their scheduled short session this spring.

Timing is key. Local finance officers say school budgeting for the next fiscal year begins in earnest in January. School district leaders say they need a long-term solution to the class size crisis sooner rather than later.

Cooper hammered home that point Friday, warning that inaction would jeopardize computer science, arts, music and physical education teachers. Districts may also be forced to shift resources to the lower grades, draining staffing levels in grades 4-12 and packing classrooms with more than 30 students.

“It’s like a balloon,” said Cooper. “You can squeeze one end to make it smaller, but the other end just gets bigger. The students in those classes will get less individual attention, and their teachers will be strained even further.”